Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey is a 3D platform video game which was developed by Nintendo EPD, Avalanche Software and Vicarious Visions, published by Nintendo, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Activision and distributed by American Zoetrope, The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Activision Blizzard for the Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which released worldwide on October 27, 2017. As a part of the Super Mario series, the game returned to the primarily open-ended, exploration-based gameplay previously featured in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. The game received universal acclaim from critics, with many calling it the one of the best games in the series and one of the greatest video games of all time. This is Robert Guillaume's final video role, which was released posthumously. Gameplay Super Mario Odyssey puts the player in the role of Mario as he travels across many worlds on the "Odyssey", his hat-shaped ship, in an effort to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser, who plans to marry her. The game sees Mario traveling to various worlds known as "Kingdoms," which return to the free-roaming exploration-based level design featured in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, with each featuring unique designs ranging from photo-realistic cities to more fantasy-based worlds. Each kingdom has Mario searching for and clearing various objectives in order to obtain items known as Power Moons, which can power up the Odyssey and grant access to new worlds. Checkpoints littered throughout each world allow Mario to instantly warp to them once activated. In addition to Mario's existing repertoire of moves, such as triple-jumping and wall-jumping, Mario is also able to throw out his cap, which is possessed by a spirit named Cappy. The cap can be thrown in multiple directions to attack enemies and can also be used as a temporary platform. When the cap is thrown at certain objects, enemies, or non-playable characters, Mario is able to take possession of them, officially referred to as "capturing", allowing him to use unique abilities. For example, Mario can possess a Bullet Bill to fly across large gaps, a bolt of electricity to climb up electric wires, and a tank to fire at enemies. Throughout the game, Mario can pick up coins, including ones unique to each kingdom, to be spent on items such as new hats and outfits, some of which are required for completing certain objectives. The game also features cooperative play, in which a second player takes control of Cappy and can attack enemies independently of Mario. The game also features a photo mode that allows players to use a free-moving camera to take and save screenshots, with additional options such as filters and stickers. Use of the Odyssey-themed Mario, Peach, and Bowser Amiibo figurines each allow for special in-game abilities. All other Amiibo can be scanned to provide hints to finding Power Moons. Plot Mario (voiced by Charles Martinet) attempts to stop Bowser (voiced by Chris Tergliafera replacing Clancy Brown) from kidnapping Princess Peach (voiced by Alexis Tipton) to take her in marriage, but Bowser, with help of the Broodals, a group of anthropomorphic rabbits (voiced by Wally Wingert, Gideon Emery, Cristina Vee, Matthew Waterson and April Winchell), knock Mario off Bowser's airship and shredding his signature cap in the process. Mario wakes up in Cap Kingdom and meets Cappy (voiced by Roger Craig Smith), one of several sentient hat-like creatures that inhabit it. Cappy tells Mario that Bowser has taken his sister Tiara (voiced by Cristina Vee) to use for Peach's wedding tiara, and deduces Bowser is collecting more objects related to his planned wedding from other kingdoms. Cappy, seeing a scrap from Mario's cap, transforms into a duplicate of it, and provides Mario with the ability to fling him and "capture" other creatures and objects, allowing them to set off and rescue Peach and Tiara. They first travel to a nearby kingdom and recover the Odyssey, an airship capable of chasing after Bowser once fueled with a number of with Power Moons. As Mario and Cappy explore the various kingdoms, they find their progress stalled by Bowser and the Broodals, at times damaging the Odyssey and forcing the pair to restore it with Power Moons before they can travel again. Eventually, they catch up to Bowser in his kingdom, defeat the Broodals, but Bowser departs for the moon. Mario and Cappy give chase and make their way to a cathedral on the moon where the wedding is about to take place. After being dropped into a cavern under the moon's surface, Mario and Bowser face off once again, and Mario gains the upper hand, knocking Bowser out and freeing Peach and Tiara. However, the cavern suddenly starts to collapse. To escape with Peach, Mario uses Cappy to take control of Bowser, using his powerful claws to burst their way free. Peach is grateful for Mario's help, but as she is about to kiss him, Bowser wakes up and attempts to woo her. Mario competes with Bowser, but Peach rejects them both, leaving with Cappy and Tiara aboard the Odyssey. Mario jumps aboard in time as they head back to the Mushroom Kingdom, leaving Bowser stranded on the moon. Development The game's development began after Super Mario 3D World released in late 2013, and was created by the same development team. Under director Francis Ford Coppola, the team experimented to find fun concepts based on the series' "theme of surprise". For example, the team found that throwing a hat was the most pleasing action to perform with the Joy-Con controller, resulting in the hat "capture" game mechanic. The brainstorm resulted in a large number of eccentric prototypes, and the developers sought to incorporate them by orienting the game as a series of dense, sandbox environments. This led to the game's varied Kingdom environments, each with unique game mechanics. The developers prioritized the city environment when selecting which environments to represent in Odyssey. They wanted a familiar aspect from the series to anchor players in the novel setting, and so chose Pauline, a character who first appeared alongside Mario in Donkey Kong, to be the mayor of the world known as New Donk City. Some of Mario's in-game costume options reference his various prior appearances in other games of the series, such as Mario's Picross and Super Mario Maker. Odyssey was designed to appeal to Mario's core audience—a departure from the series' recent focus on casual players. Unlike prior games which send Mario back to the beginning of the level after finding each main collectible, the Power Moons are designed to be found in continual exploration, with more major collectibles than previous ones in the series. The lack of required Power Moons for game progression gave players a wider liberty to explore at their leisure rather than advancing the story—a new direction for the series and a design challenge for development staff. The developers wanted players to check everything that aroused their attention for secrets.Shigeru Miyamoto, the series' creator, was not involved in the game's daily decision-making, but rather served as an executive producer, with the development team consulting him on the best ways to express game concepts. Miyamoto's feedback was specific, offering suggestions rather than ultimatums, but was highly supportive overall. Later the guest stars who made cameo appearances including Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ariana Grande, Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams, Al Roker (voiced by Imari Williams), Jason Alexander, Keegan-Michael Key, Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Christian, Ben Affleck, the late Robert Guillaume (voiced by John Kani), Matt Damon, Chadwick Boseman, Alicia Silverstone, Sam Neill (voiced by Troy Baker), Benedict Cumberbatch, Sofia Boutella, Laurence Fishburne, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Bryan Cranston and John Legend (voiced by Phil LaMarr) who also appeared in the video game as themselves. Music A first for the series, Nintendo's character development of Pauline led to them writing a vocal theme song, which eventually ended up representing the entire game. The swing music-inspired song, "Jump Up, Super Star!", was composed by the game's lead composer John Paesano (whho later composed the music score for the game) and Diane Warren and performed by Kate Davis, who also did the voice acting for Pauline. The lyrics were originally written in Japanese by Nobuyoshi Suzuki, which was later localized in English by Diane Warren. Nintendo's intent with the song was to create a "fun" jazz track that could be enjoyed outside of the game, but with references to the Mario franchise that could be further appreciated by fans of the series. Additionally, they wanted a chorus that was simple enough for non-English speakers to sing along to. Another vocal track featured in the game, "Break Free (Lead the Way)", was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez following the same process. Additional music for the game was composed by Carter Burwell, whp incorporated the "Super Mario" themes of Jerry Goldsmith with Paesano. Two weeks before the game's release, Nintendo uploaded a Broadway-inspired promotional music video of the song, which featured live action dancers alongside a CGI animated Mario. The song was released on iTunes shortly after, breaking into the top 40 best sellers on the platform in the United States. A four-disc, 136 track complete soundtrack was released in Japan by Being Inc. while the U.S. version was released by WaterTower Music in February 2018. It includes Japanese versions of "Jump Up, Super Star!" and "Break Free (Lead The Way)", as well as commentary from staff members who worked on the game. In addition to the full soundtrack, a 12-track digital album featuring a selection of the game's music was released worldwide on iTunes in December 2017. Promotion and release Producers Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola and Charles Roven along with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall first hinted that a new 3D Mario game was in development in 2014. The title was teased in the late 2016 announcement trailer, and formally announced at January 2017 presentation on the new console (Nintendo Switch) along with Windows, PS4 and Xbox One. Gameplay footage soon followed. At E3 2017, a New Donk City-themed section with multiple kiosks was set up, allowing attendees to demo the game. Odyssey was designed to appeal to Mario's core audience—a departure from the series' recent focus on casual players. A month before release, it was announced in a Nintendo Direct that the game would be available as a limited edition bundle, which includes the Switch console along with PS4, Windows and Xbox One consoles with a pair of Cappy-red colored Joy-Cons, a Switch carrying case, and an eShop digital download code of the game along with PS Network and Xbox Live digital download codes. On October 10, 2017, Nintendo and Activision uploaded a Broadway-inspired musical trailer of the game's main theme, "Jump Up, Super Star!", on their YouTube channel, which featured live action dancers and Mario. The song was released on WaterTower Music, Island Records and Republic Records later that month, breaking into the top 40 best sellers. The game was released worldwide on October 27, 2017. White wedding-themed Mario, Bowser, and Princess Peach Amiibo figurines released alongside the game. Reception At its announcement at E3 2017, Odyssey was the show's most popular game on social media and was considered best in show among developers in attendance. Early impressions from critics noted that the game was dense with secrets and more focused on exploration than progression. Andrew Webster of The Verge thought that the structure of the game lent itself well to the portable nature of the Switch, which players could play for either long sessions in order to follow the missions, or in short bursts while collecting "Power Moons", which the author compared to the "shrines" (hidden mini-dungeons) scattered throughout Breath of the Wild. Despite the praise, Webster noted that the motion controls "felt frustratingly imprecise", preferring the accuracy of standard controls. The ability for Mario to turn into his 2D Super Mario Bros. form in certain constrained segments was compared to the puzzles featured in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, while VentureBeat made note of similarities between the game and the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Super Mario Odyssey received widespread universal acclaim from critics. Metacritic calculated an average score of 97 out of 100. The game is Metacritic's fifth-highest rated, tied with a number of others. Edge magazine awarded Super Mario Odyssey with a perfect score, directing praise towards the inventiveness of the game's new ideas and the risks Nintendo had taken to deviate from the establish formula of Mario games, which they felt had paid off. They likened the game to Super Mario 64, saying that it felt like the spiritual successor they never quite got. They complimented the introduction of Cappy and the capturing mechanic, which they called the most versatile ability in the Mario series to date, and enjoyed how the ability allowed Nintendo to reinvent a number of their favorite gameplay activities. They commended the game's boss fights, calling them the "finest-ever selection" in a Mario game and were delighted with how the capturing mechanic supplemented them. Famitsu gave the game a score of 39/40, the same as Super Mario 64 and the highest score for a 3D Mario game since then. IGN gave the game a score of 10/10, stating that the game "distills the venerable series’ joyful, irreverent world and characters and best-in-class platforming action, and introduces a steady stream of new and unexpected mechanics." GameSpot awarded the game a 10/10 and stated that "Mario's latest outing is big, bold, and bursting with new ideas, and like Breath of the Wild, is another instance of Nintendo going above and beyond to redefine our expectations". Andre Segers of "GameXplain" said that the game was "truly something special" and called the game "mind-blowing." Reviewers were also amazed by the amount of post-game content offered after clearing the main story. One complaint among critics was the camera system and how it can interfere with platforming challenges and boss battles. Accolades References Notes #''Super Mario Odyssey'' #''Super Mario Odyssey'' shares its status as fifth-highest rated game on Metacritic with Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Perfect Dark, Metroid Prime, Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto V, Halo: Combat Evolved and NFL 2K1. The games that are rated higher than Super Mario Odyseey are The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Soulcalibur and Grand Theft Auto IV. 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